


The Place Where They Belong

by GRiDGALAXY



Series: The Lullaby of Lost Children [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-20 06:34:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 11,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22013134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GRiDGALAXY/pseuds/GRiDGALAXY
Summary: All of the victims of the Lost Incident wish to go back to a special place they hold dear, but their guardians will never allow it.
Series: The Lullaby of Lost Children [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1584367
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Broken bonds and a shattered soul

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the previous work in this series, "The Lullaby of Lost Children" before reading this one.

Yusaku was cold. So very cold.

Only moments ago he was close to so many warm hearts and minds, each one reaching out to him and embracing him so that he didn’t have to be alone or cold. In return he was reaching out to them, making sure they felt just as cared for as he did. In a snap, they had all disappeared and left Yusaku with nobody to hold onto, nobody to be warmed by, and nobody to connect to.

Yusaku was all alone again.

Fighting alongside Shoichi, Takeru, Ryoken, Aoi and the Ingis was something that had given him friends. Strong bonds were formed as they all experienced loss and triumph together. When it had all ended and Yusaku had defeated Ai, everyone went their separate ways. This didn’t bother Yusaku at all at first; he had to find Ai again. He had a mission, his own path to walk, just as everyone else did.

However, a month into trying to find Ai, Yusaku came to a realisation. He was fighting alone. His search for Ai was a tiring and solitary one. And after getting used to fighting with others to support him for so long, the loneliness was something he could no longer ignore like he used to. It just didn’t feel right to him anymore.

Slowly, the loneliness started to break Yusaku’s strengthened heart down again. Days stretched out and his mind began to crush under the pressure. What he would do just to hear Shoichi give him a status report on a battle or have Takeru fly up to his side on his D-board… Yusaku needed somebody, but he wasn’t ever going to turn back. He needed to find Ai first.

Of course, he did eventually find his partner. Ai was waiting for him in a little cottage in a remote section of the virtual world. Yusaku was so tired at this point; he fell asleep almost immediately upon seeing Ai. He was finally able to let himself relax after three straight months of hard work and searching for his lost AI.

That was the first little bit of connection Yusaku had felt in those three months too. He hadn’t talked to, let alone seen, another person in all of that time. To see another being besides himself felt indescribably reassuring to Yusaku. The fact it was the familiar face he had been searching for this whole time made it all the more better.

When Ai presented Yusaku with Ryoken and Jin on his second day with him, Yusaku was unsure what the dark Ignis was planning. However, he was too tired to ask or figure out what the Ignis was doing, so he remained unaware of what was going to happen until it actually did.

It was at that moment he felt something he hadn’t felt enough of in a long time; a connection to friends. It felt so good to finally be beside them again, where he belonged. It had been far too long since he had seen these people or talked to them.

Yusaku was in absolute bliss for the following days. More and more of his friends joined him. He not only regained those lost connections, but he felt closer to all of his friends than he ever had before. He could feel their hearts, see into their minds and memories and get to know them better than anyone else could hope to.

Ai and the rest of Yusaku’s friends were beside him the whole time, making sure Yusaku was slowly but surely building his broken heart back up.

So when Yusaku had everyone taken away from him in an instant, leaving him to sleep and dream alone, Yusaku felt a sharp crack strike through his heart, as if he had torn stitches sewn into an injury without letting the wound heal first.

The only thing Yusaku could feel now was the crippling emptiness surrounding him, and Ai trying to tell him that everything was going to be okay. Yusaku didn’t feel like everything was going to be okay at all.

A wave of purple swept through Yusaku’s mind, and his eyes opened slowly, tears building up in the space between his partly open eyelids. Ai was looking down at him, a small and uneasy smile on his face. Ai hugged Yusaku up to his chest tightly, “They’ll come back to us. You won’t be lonely anymore.” He promised, voice shaky and sad, “I won’t let them be taken away from here again. This is a place where we’re all happy. This is a place where we’re all connected. Bonds are made stronger here. I can’t let this special place be taken away from you, or any of the other children…”


	2. Locked out

As soon as she woke up, Kiku tried to log back in. She wanted to be back in the network, in the little cottage where Takeru and all of his new friends were. As far as she was concerned his friends were her friends. Besides, she knew them just as well as Takeru did, now that she had connected with them.

Her duel disk did not permit her access to the network. She tried and tried again, desperately whispering “Into the Vrains!” over and over, hoping her duel disk would come to its senses and just let her log in already. The display on her disk displayed the message “Error 401: Unauthorised”. Kiku had no idea what that meant.

This problem wasn’t the only thing on Kiku’s mind. She had many unanswered questions. Was she the only one logged out? Why was she logged out? Had her duel disk broken?

Kiku decided that she needed to see Takeru if she wanted some of these questions answered. Perhaps he was logged out too? Maybe he would even know why her duel disk was acting strange. She quickly slipped her shoes on and ran out the door. She had to find Takeru. Under the light of the starry night sky, she ran across her hometown, heading straight for the house of her friend.

As to not wake Takeru’s parents up, she used the spare key Takeru’s grandmother had given her to open the front door, and tip-toed inside. She closed the door silently behind her, and quickly, yet quietly, made her way to Takeru’s bedroom. His lamp was on, casting a dim light under his door. He was waiting for her.

Upon Kiku opening Takeru’s door, he looked over to her, a hopeful expression on his face.  
“I knew you’d come.” Takeru smiled, “I had a feeling I wasn’t the only one logged out.”  
“Is your disk also not letting you log back in?” Kiku asked, keeping her voice quiet.  
“Yes actually, it is.” Takeru held up his duel disk, showing Kiku that his display was showing a 401 error code, just like hers had.

“Are our duel disks broken?” Kiku sighed, sitting down on Takeru’s bed beside him.  
“I don’t know…” Takeru began, “But I think I know why we logged out.”  
“Why?”  
“Just before we logged out, Ryoken disconnected from us for a brief period, then after that he reconnected, and I could feel his presence again. He saw what may have logged us out while he was disconnected.”  
“Now that you mention it…” Kiku trailed off, searching through her memories to see if she could remember what Ryoken saw.

It took a moment before she realised what Takeru was talking about, “There were other people in the room!”  
“Those people were Shoichi, Kyoko, Aso and Akira. I’m sure you know who they are from all of our memories.” Takeru explained.  
“They’re the friends and family of everyone we connected with.” Kiku nodded, indicating her understanding, “Do you really think they were the ones who logged us out?”

“It’s entirely possible.” Takeru bowed his head and let out a sigh, “I reckon it was the Knights who did it. They’re hackers, after all. Genome was missing from the trio of Knights, so if he joined at any point after Ryoken reconnected, he may have done something.”  
“Isn’t Shoichi a hacker too though?” Kiku asked, a memory from Yusaku surfacing in her mind.  
“Yeah, but he tends to not hack while he’s in the network. He works from the outside.” Takeru shook his head.  
“Ah, that’s right…” Kiku trailed off. That sat in silence for a moment. Kiku fidgeted with her braid.

“We need to find a way back in. We’re the only ones who aren’t close to or living with somebody from the group of people that Ryoken saw.” Takeru spoke up, “We have the best chance of making it back to Ai. There’s nobody supervising us, so there’s no one to stop us.”  
“But our disks won’t let us in…” Kiku spoke with a defeated tone. They sat in silence again, both racking their minds for something, _anything_ they could do to get back into the network.

It was Takeru who finally spoke up, “Uh… I’m not really sure how duel disks work exactly, but do you think if we turned the disks off and on they would let us in?”  
“It’s worth a try.”  
Takeru powered off his device, waited a moment, then switched it on again.  
“Okay… Into the Vrains!” He whispered.

“Error 401: Unauthorised.” Displayed on the screen of his duel disk.

“No…!” Takeru grit his teeth, “Surely there’s something we can do…”  
“What if we swapped disks?” Kiku suggested, holding her disk out, “Duel disks aren’t associated with accounts, so you can log in from any duel disk, right?”  
“I think so…” Takeru put his hand to his chin, “So you’re suggesting that whatever is keeping us out is something that blocks us, but only in _our duel disk that we were using_?”

“I guess I am…?” Kiku chuckled.  
“It’s worth a shot.” Takeru shrugged, handing his disk to Kiku. Kiku handed her disk to him.  
“Ready?” She asked.  
“Ready.”

“Into the Vrains!” They whispered in unison.

A purple light engulfed them, and when it disappeared, all that could be seen were two people sleeping on a bed.


	3. Confiscated, imprisoned and lonely

Only moments after Ryoken woke up, realised a familiar weight was missing from his wrist. In a panic, he sat up. His eyes darted around his room, surveying his surroundings. He froze when he looked over to the door of his room, seeing that Kyoko was there, holding his duel disk.

“Give my duel disk back.” Ryoken asserted firmly, adding “That’s an order!” afterwards for good measure.  
“I’m afraid I can’t do such a thing.” Kyoko shook her head.  
“I’m the leader of this group. Hand the disk back to me.” Ryoken let a scowl claim his face. He’d finally been getting the sleep he had struggled to get for so many years, and now it was being taken away from him by his own loyal knights?!

“Aso, Genome and I have decided that you and Specter should stay in your rooms for now.” Kyoko explained with hesitant voice. It was true that she found it hard to say no to Ryoken, but she knew that giving into her tendency to do as he asked would come with dire consequences, “We’re not going to let you leave your room until we can figure out what Ai did to you specifically, and reverse it if necessary.”

“He didn’t do anything harmful! You heard my recollection of what happened the first time I visited that cottage. He just put us to sleep and connected our minds!” Ryoken felt like he was about to lose his cool completely.

“We can’t be sure. He may have altered your memories.” Kyoko sighed, “I’m going to go now. We’ll come and check on you every hour.”

As Kyoko locked the door behind her with a worried frown on her face, a similar set of events was unfolding in the room over. Specter was absolutely furious that Aso was confiscating his duel disk and locking him in his room.

“You’re just like those adults!” Specter hissed, “They took my mother tree, and you’re taking all those people away from me!”  
“We’re not doing this with any ill intent, Specter.” Aso folded his arms.  
“I thought you were _different_ , Aso. All of you Knights, I thought you were better than this!” He barked, “You were so kind to Ryoken-sama, unlike how I thought adults treated children, but now I can see that wasn’t true! You’re just like the other adults!”

“I’m sorry that you can’t understand that we’re trying to do what’s best for you both.” Aso apologised, “It’ll take some time, but we’ll figure out the full extent of what Ai did, and reverse what we can.”  
“There’s nothing to reverse!” Specter laughed maniacally before taking a deep breath, “I suppose it’s okay. You’ll see for yourself that Ryoken-sama and I are correct after investigating. You’ll give us our duel disks back.”  
“I guess we’ll wait and see.” Aso sighed, “We’ll check in on you every hour. I’m leaving now.”

With a firm click, the door shut and Specter was trapped in his room, just as Ryoken had been.

Kyoko and Aso met up back in the command room of their boat where their computers were set up, and Genome was currently working. They both sat down, and Kyoko opened a bottle of iced coffee that was sitting on her table.  
“Do you think they’re going to be okay?” Kyoko asked worriedly to nobody in particular, inviting an answer from anyone in the room.

“They’re both in complete denial.” Aso commented, “There’s really no telling how things will pan out.”  
“We have two jobs to complete if we want to get them back to normal.” Genome explained in an analytical tone, “Firstly, we need to find out what that AI did to them.”  
“Technically we don’t even know if he did anything…” Kyoko added.  
“Even so, well we’re fairly sure that he must have done something. You can’t exactly trust an Ignis.” Genome continued, “Once we find out what the Ignis has done, we can work to undo it.”  
“You sound confident.” Aso said.

“It should be a straightforward task for hackers of our caliber. Although I’m not so sure about the second thing we must do… which is that we must bring those two back to their senses. There’s no use fixing things if they’re still complaining about wanting to see other victims and the dark Ignis in the network.”

“What makes you unsure about that?” Kyoko asked.  
“I know how to write and undo programs. I _do not_ know how to deal with the emotions of others.”  
“Oh, that’s fair.” Kyoko couldn’t help but laugh, “Leave that sort of thing to Aso and I.”

After an hour passed, and the three knights had spent all of their time discussing how to put their plans into motion, an alarm went off on Kyoko’s phone.  
“Time to check up on Ryoken and Specter.” She hummed, getting up from her chair. She walked over to the mini fridge and took out two bottles of water, and left the room.

When she opened the door to Ryoken’s room, she found him lying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling, motionless. He essentially hadn’t moved an inch since she last saw him. He was wide awake, despite it being nighttime.  
“Have you just stayed there the whole time?” She inquired, closing the door behind her.  
“Yes, because there’s nothing to do.” Ryoken groaned, “You took away my duel disk, which I need to help me guard the network. I have no work to do, and I’m pretty sure you already know, but I don’t have any hobbies.”

Kyoko sighed, approaching the bed, “Maybe now would be a good time to try and find a hobby?” She sat down beside him, and put a hand on his shoulder, “Maybe you could draw something? Or perhaps you could try writing. They’re simple hobbies, but you might find them to be surprisingly enjoyable.”  
“I don’t need anything to distract me from my mission.” Ryoken sat up, frowning, “I need to atone as Soulburner asked me to, not have a hobby.”

“I see.” Kyoko paused for a moment, letting a sense of sadness wash over her. She really only wanted the best for Ryoken. “Well, other than giving you your duel disk back, is there anything I can do for you?  
“Yes, actually.”  
Kyoko put one of the bottles of water on Ryoken’s bedside table, “What is it?”  
“Can you please bring Specter in here?” He requested.  
“Hmmm… I suppose I can. You’re both probably very lonely.” Kyoko put the other bottle of water down.

“Oh, _you wouldn’t even begin to understand how lonely we are_ …” Ryoken muttered under his breath.  
“Pardon?” Kyoko asked. Ryoken wasn’t quite audible to her.  
“Oh, nothing. I was just thanking you for the water, and for agreeing to grant my request.”  
“No problem.” She stood up and walked over to the door.

Moments later she entered the room again, this time behind Specter.  
“I’m surprised you agreed to this, Kyoko.” He commented, turning around to face her once he reached the middle of the room.  
“Well, it’s not like you can get into the network without your duel disks.” She pointed out with a shrug, “Besides, it seems like an awful thing to do, to leave you two alone in your rooms for what might be days.”

Thanks were exchanged, and Kyoko left the room and locked the door again, leaving Specter and Ryoken alone with one another. Specter sat down on the bed beside the Hanoi leader.

After some silence, Ryoken was the first to speak up, “That wasn’t the loneliest hour of my life, but it sure felt like it was.”  
Specter nodded in agreement, “Suddenly being taken away from everyone like that, and being forced to have no contact with anybody for a full hour… the contrast is too much.”  
“Yeah…” Ryoken stared out the window of his room, out to the calm ocean waters reflecting the stars in the night sky above.

Specter put his hand over one of Ryoken’s, a gesture meant to alleviate some loneliness for both of them, “What do you think has happened to the others?”  
“Miyu, Aoi and Jin are likely under close supervision like us.” Ryoken tapped his fingers on his bed frame with one hand, and squeezed Specter’s hand with the other, “However… Takeru and Kiku don’t have anyone to supervise them.” A confident smile graced his face.

“If we can’t find a way back into the network ourselves, they may be able to help us get back in.” Specter felt his expression become a smile also, “Not all is lost.”  
“Although, I’m worried about Yusaku… I think he was logged out with us.” Ryoken pondered something for a few seconds, before coming to a conclusion, “If he was logged out, I don’t imagine anyone was supervising him, so he probably has had no issues getting back.”

“Well then, let’s hope anyone else from the cottage can help us out soon.” Specter commented.  
“In the meantime, we can try and find our own way back.” Ryoken smirked.


	4. Maybe they can't understand

“Please, don’t do this!” Aoi cried out, “I want to be in the network with everyone! Let us go back to the cottage!”  
“I can’t let you.” Akira said, crossing his arms.  
“Please give our duel disks back, Akira…!” Miyu begged.  
“Ai is up to no good.” He replied, averting his gaze from the girls, “I can’t give these duel disks back to either of you. I know you hate it when I protect you, Aoi, but in this case it’s very important that I protect you from yourself. And Miyu, I’d be damned if I didn’t protect my little sister’s best friend.”

“Please, give us our disks back! We just want to connect with everyone…!” Aoi pleaded.  
“My final answer is no. And the house droids are going to be keeping an eye on you. I don’t want to risk anything.” Akira shook his head, “You two should go to sleep. I’m going to go to bed so I can decide what to do about Ai in the morning.”

“Don’t hurt him! You don’t understand, big brother! He wasn’t doing anything to hurt us!” Aoi tightened her grip on the bed covers beneath her.  
“We’ll see.” He stated simply, turning to leave the room and closing the door behind him.

Aoi and Miyu were left in tears, hugging each other and crying.  
“Why is he being so unfair? Why isn't he listening to us? I thought we came to understand each other after the Ignis war ended…!” Aoi sobbed.  
Miyu pat her back, sniffling as she shed some tears of her own, “I guess he doesn’t truly understand you… but we have each other, right…? We understand each other better than he does.”

“The other people from the cottage understand us better than he does right now…” Aoi wept, “Even Kiku. We’ve never met her in real life, but she’s such a sweet and lovely girl who just wanted the best for Takeru. We know her pain, and she knows ours…”  
“Even the boys know us better than you brother does…” Miyu pointed out, her tone low and sad.

“Specter, who tried to brainwash me a few months ago using an infected card, knows us better! He’s both tragic and loyal, and honestly, we understand each other so well now that I don’t even care that he almost destroyed my sanity…! I don’t even care that Ryoken ordered him to do it! We’re just _that_ close too!”

“I’ve never even met most of the people there, and they know me better than Akira!” Miyu cried, “Like Yusaku and Takeru. We were all in the Lost Incident. They understand my pain. I understand theirs. We all just want to help each other move past it… Jin too. He’s such a nice boy, but the incident destroyed him. He doesn’t feel right, revealing his pain to his big brother anymore, since he feels like a burden after all Shoichi has done for him. But we’re here for him…”

“Do you think…” Aoi began.  
“That the only real way to understand us is to feel everything we do? To know what we’ve been through?” Miyu continued, finishing her sentence, “It’s possible…”  
“Then it’s not even worth trying to get my big brother to understand…” Aoi grit her teeth, tears flowing freely.  
“I agree.” Miyu nodded, “We can’t rely on changing you brother’s mind to get back in the network. We’ll have to find our own way.”

There was a tear filled silence, before Aoi spoke up.  
“Are you angry at my brother, Miyu?” She asked through her crying.  
“A little…”  
“I am too.” She admitted, “But I don’t think it’s fair for us to be angry. He doesn’t understand what he’s doing. He can’t help it. He hasn’t been given the chance to know us like the others at the cottage have… If he had been given the chance to understand I have no doubt he wouldn’t be doing this.”  
“I know what you mean…”  
“Let’s find a way back tomorrow. My brother doesn’t need to know. He’ll understand why we did it one day.”


	5. Back where they belong

"You're back! I knew you'd make it back here!" Ai exclaimed joyfully, wrapping his arms around Kiku and Takeru. Ai was acting just as he did when he spent his days in his Ignis form, rather than his human form. He was happy and energetic, and very pleased to see that his friends had made it back to his corner of the network.

"Glad to be back, Ai." Kiku gave a warm smile.  
"Wait, so switching duel disks actually worked?" Takeru tilted his head, glancing at Kiku.  
"It certainly looks that way." She nodded.

"Switching duel disks?" Ai asked in confusion.  
"We couldn't log in with our own disks." Takeru explained, holding up his wrist to reveal that he was wearing Kiku's disk.  
"I see… the program prevents you from logging back in with your own duel disk. In that case, the program Genome used to log you out is still in your disks." Ai ran a hand through his hair, "We should remove that, to be safe."

"Agreed." Kiku nodded, "And it was Genome who logged us out?"  
"Yes." Ai released his embrace of the two and held his hand out to Kiku. She placed her wrist with the duel disk in his hand. Ai spent a moment scanning the code on the disk, before finding Genome's program and wiping it.

"There we go, all clean." He said, letting go of her wrist, "Takeru." he prompted, holding his hand out to him. Takeru did the same as Kiku, letting Ai erase the program.

"Did everyone else get logged out too?" Takeru asked, looking around the fabric covered floor before seeing Yusaku lying on his side, awake and cuddling a pillow with an empty expression on his face.  
"Everyone except Yusaku, as you can see. I only had enough time to stop him from logging out." Ai said, a hint of regret in his voice. He wished he could have acted faster.

"Is he… okay?" Kiku asked, observing Yusaku's expression.  
"He's been lonely…" Ai stood up, and walked over to Yusaku, before sitting down beside him, "He hasn't talked to me at all. There isn't much I can do for him unless other people are around."

"Now that we're here, we can help him, right?" Takeru asked, crawling over to Yusaku's side with Kiku. Yusaku looked up at them with dull eyes.  
"You can. Please, take good care of him as you sleep." Ai requested, bowing his head.  
"Of course we will. We know how lonely he felt, searching for you. He must feel like that right now…" Kiku brushed some pink strands of Yusaku's hair away from his face, "I know these eyes. He just wants to have some people to keep him company."

"Thank you." Ai smiled gratefully, "I don't think the others will be joining us tonight, considering the situations they're probably in. How about I put you all to sleep now?"  
"That would be lovely." Kiku lay down beside Yusaku, and put an arm around him. Yusaku's expression softened a little in response to the contact.  
"Goodnight." Takeru said, taking his place on the other side of Yusaku, wrapping an arm around him.

"Sweet dreams." Ai gently placed his hand over Yusaku's forehead, letting a wave of purple wash him away into a dream. He then pressed his hand to Takeru's forehead, making a pulse of purple light send him to sleep. Finally, he rested his hand over Kiku's fringe and applied his program to her, letting her join her friends in their dreams.

As Yusaku felt warmth residing near his mind once more, his heart shed a tear. Kiku and Takeru sensed this, and embraced him, assuring him that he wasn’t alone anymore. Yusaku could feel what it is they were trying to convey to him, and he let himself be taken into the arms of their minds. Their warmth filled him up, easing the worry and sorrow in his mind. He didn’t want to lose them again, and Takeru and Kiku didn’t want to be forcefully taken from the cottage where they had bonded with so many people.

There was something Kiku and Takeru wished to do. In the morning, they would leave, and they’d find a way to bring everyone else back to Ai’s cottage. Yusaku needed more people to make sure he never felt loneliness again, and they needed their friends back so they could connect to them once more. They didn’t want to go without the comfort of others understanding everything about them, from their hopes to their fears.

As the three of them slept, Ai watched on with a contented smile. Not all was lost. Takeru and Kiku could help him bring everyone back to where they belonged; a place where they could be beside everyone who cared about them. Jin, Aoi, Miyu, Specter and Ryoken would have people watching over them who will do everything in their power to stop them from returning home to the cottage, but Ai knew that as long as there were people who could get to them for him, they’d be able to come back.


	6. Isolated by his own complex

Jin didn’t hate Shoichi. He just hated that he couldn’t open up to him with everything that bothered him.

It was very isolating for Jin. His brother insisted on spending a lot of time together to make up for all the years they had lost. This often involved lovely moments of reconnection between the brothers, but it also meant that Jin had to face the reality of his situation in much clearer detail.

Jin could see that years of trying to pay for his therapy and trying to support his basic needs by running a food truck had been very hard on Shoichi, and that the two of them had little money to live off as a result. Shoichi’s careful weekly budgeting was the only thing just barely sparing them from dipping into the red.

Jin felt guilty. It was because of _him_ that Shoichi had to live like this. Long gone were the days where Shoichi could have been a star athlete, making lots of money and adored by all. He had been reduced to a mere hotdog seller by the existence of his little brother.

The worst part for Jin, out of this whole mess, is that Jin didn’t remember _anything_ of what had happened to him that made him have to attend therapy and be such a big parasite to his brother. There was a gaping hole in his memory where everything regarding the ‘Lost Incident’, as his brother had called it, was supposed to reside.

The hole in his memory hurt. It was like a big part of him was missing. He felt like he was less of a person than those around him.

Jin wouldn’t dare burden his brother with such knowledge, however. He didn’t need to make Shoichi’s life harder than he already had. Every time he’d feel ill around Shoichi, because the gap in his memory had to decided to hurt a little more that day, Jin would feel terribly guilty for even considering the possibility that his brother hadn’t done enough for him.

One day, out of curiosity, Jin had asked Shoichi why he didn’t remember some things. Shoichi mentioned something called the ‘Lost Incident’ and a being named ‘Lightning’, but refused to ever go into detail in case it would give Jin his memory back and break him again.

Jin sometimes wondered if the pain of those memories would hurt less than the pain instilled in him by the hole they left. The pain of the gap was so bad sometimes that Jin had decided to research the ‘Lost Incident’ in an attempt to get the memories back despite the possibility of ending up in a hospital again.

After a few trips to the public library, and a good week of researching the incident online, Jin had found nothing. He was distraught.

A month ago, Jin had completely given up on restoring his memories entirely. He decided he’d just have to live with the pain, and let it slowly drive him insane. Jin accepted his cruel fate and went about his life in a quiet, somewhat disguised misery.

Every smile he had to flash the customers at Cafe Nagi were fake. The innocent smile he’d wear around his brother was fake. The contented smile he’d have at school was fake. Smiling was painful, but he had to do it to spare his brother any more trouble.

Then, one fateful day, Jin felt as if he were saved. He was connected to other people who experienced the ‘Lost Incident’.

He finally was able to find out, in vivid detail, what had befallen him 10 years ago. He finally found out what sort of state he was in when he was going through therapy. He was finally able to remember! His memories didn’t just rush back in an instant and break him like he thought they would (and like his brother insisted they would if he were reminded of too much), but they settled in his mind gently, filling the void they had left.

The memories no longer hurt him. The gap was no longer there to hurt him. He was free of all the pain that had been bestowed upon him by the cruelty of those around him.

And then he no longer felt isolated. He had so many people who were there for him, and would make sure he was okay. Shoichi didn’t have to find out about his problems at all. He had found a place in the world where he was able to be himself without harming anyone else.

Having friends was something Jin loved. He never made any friends at the hospital that he’d been locked in for 10 years. Feeling so close to another person was a gift Jin would never ever want to give up. Every night he would look forward to seeing his friends and sharing everything with them.

When he woke up the morning after he’d been forcibly logged out from the network, he was confused to find his brother kneeling at his bedside, crying.  
“I failed to protect you again…!” He cried, his voice strained unlike anything Jin had ever heard from him before, “I couldn’t protect you…!”  
“Nii-san…” Jin managed, sitting up, eyes wide.

“I won’t let that AI near you ever again!” Shoichi promised through his weeping.  
“But…”  
“And having this device around is dangerous. I won’t let it near you either.” He held up Jin’s duel disk. A wave of panic hit Jin’s heart like a tidal wave.  
“Nii-san, I-” Jin stammered.  
“Shh… I’ll make sure you won’t be in danger again…” Shoichi pat Jin’s head, then wrapped his arms around him, “Thank goodness you’re safe…”

Jin really wanted to explain to Shoichi that he had it all wrong, but alas, he had only gained his memories back, and hadn’t exactly gained the confidence to speak up. He was a quiet boy, and this situation wasn’t going to change that.

Shoichi hid Jin’s disk, made breakfast, and told Jin all about what had happened to him.  
“That AI you were with, Ai, can’t be trusted.” Shoichi stated with an uneasy voice, “I mean, I could definitely trust him at one point, but I see that he’s gone rogue…

“He was doing something to you Jin. I just know it. And the others there too. He had Yusaku, Damn it! Both you and Yusaku… I don’t know what he did but I’m happy to see that you seem unaffected. Perhaps we got you and the others out just in time.”

While they ate breakfast, Jin didn’t say a word. He just let the situation dawn on him.

He’d hurt his brother again. He had lost all of his precious friends, the people he could open up to about his troubles. Jin was isolated and guilty once more, and he felt awful for it.

From what Shoichi had told him, Jin had deduced that all of his friends were locked out of the network, and that he had no intention of letting him back in the network at all. Jin didn’t know what to do, as his brother was very adamant in his conclusions.

All Jin knew was that there was nothing he could do to get back into the network, where he belonged. All he could do was hope that a miracle would occur that would allow him to go back to the place where he felt he was truly able to be himself.


	7. Unexpected visitors

Akira wasn’t expecting any visitors at his apartment today. Despite this, a knock came from his door in the evening as he ate dinner with Miyu and Aoi. Aoi silently chewed her food, a grim expression on her face. Noting that she wasn’t in a mood to get up and answer the door, Akira sighed and stood up from his chair, and pulled the door open.

“Good evening, Zaizen.” A boy greeted him from the other side of the door to his apartment. A young lady with a black plait stood by his side.  
“Homura Takeru?” Akira felt his eyes widen.  
“Yes. And this is my friend, Kamishirakawa Kiku. We’re from the countryside, but we’ve been staying in Den city for the day.” Takeru responded without a second’s hesitation.  
“And what brings you to my apartment?” Zaizen inquired.

“Considering last night’s events, I assume you know that we were with Ai, just like Miyu and Aoi were?” Kiku asked.  
“Yes.”  
“The Hanoi have sent us to take Aoi and Miyu to them.”  
“And why would they need the girls?” Zaizen’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.  
“I’m not sure if you were aware or not, but Ai did infect us with a program while we were in his care. Why do you think we wanted to be with him so bad? Why do you think we visited him again and again?” Kiku questioned.

“He did…?” Zaizen bit his lip. This was bad news. He did expect something like this may have happened, but he didn’t take the possibility as seriously as he should of. He had just assumed that the girls were fine and their need to go back into the network was just a passing tantrum.  
“He did.” Takeru confirmed, “The Hanoi have developed a way to remove the program, and they need Aoi and Miyu to remove the program from them.”

“And why did they send you?” Zaizen inquired, “They could have come to get them themselves.”  
“Aoi and Miyu won’t trust them, but they’ll trust us.” Kiku replied.  
“Also, how exactly did they remove the program you?” Zaizen raised an eyebrow.  
“They found out where I live from the Lost Incident records.” Takeru explained, “So Aso and Kyoko came and rid me of the program. I then took them to Kiku’s house.”  
Kiku nodded in agreement.

“I see…” Zaizen took a moment to consider what he should do. Their story was perfect, and seemed realistic enough. Zaizen was just very nervous to let Miyu and Aoi out of his care. What if they ran away and found some duel disks and got back to Ai? What if Ai would lure them in again?

“Something wrong, Zaizen?” Kiku asked.  
“...” He was lost in thought.  
“Uh… Zaizen…?” Takeru stammered, “Everything okay?”  
“I’ll… tell the girls to go with you.” Zaizen replied, “Just don’t let them out of your sight. Don’t let them near any duel disks, and _don’t_ let anything bad happen to them.”  
“You have our word.” Takeru nodded.  
“And let the Hanoi know that SOL is currently working on tracking Ai down. We’re having a bit of trouble since he’s hidden himself well, but we’re working on it and we will find him eventually.”

“Will do.” Takeru nodded a final time.  
Akira turned around and called out to the girls, “Aoi, Miyu. Homura and Kamishirakawa are at the door and are asking for you.”   
“Takeru…? Kiku…?” Miyu’s eyes lit up.  
Aoi was a little more skeptical, “Is this a cruel joke, big brother? If they were at the door you wouldn’t let them see us.”

Akira sighed and opened the door fully and stepped aside, revealing the visitors to Aoi and Miyu.  
“It… it really is them!” Aoi’s eyes lit up just as Miyu’s had, “But why are you letting us see them?”  
“They’re going to help you.” Akira replied simply.  
“Do you finally understand what we want?” Miyu asked, “To be with our precious friends?”

“We’re here to take you to the Hanoi to remove Ai’s influence over you.” Takeru told her, taking a step into the house.  
Miyu and Aoi’s expressions instantly dropped.  
“Ai’s _what now?_ ” Aoi narrowed her eyes.  
“Get up and go with them. You’ll understand why once it’s over.” Akira motioned for the two to get up.

“But we-” Miyu began, before she was cut off.  
“This is important. Please don’t make me ask you again.”  
With frowns on their faces, Aoi and Miyu got up from their chairs and approached their friends. Aoi cautiously approached Takeru, and as Takeru held his hand out, she looked at his hand hesitantly. After a tense moment, she took it, and let herself be led out by the boy.

Kiku took it upon herself to make the first move out of her and Miyu, and grabbed Miyu’s hand before Miyu could even decide whether or not to run away. The four of them left the apartment, and Akira shut the door behind them.

The elevator ride down to the bottom floor was awkward to say the least. Aoi and Miyu were quite obviously both confused and fuming. Kiku and Takeru appeared to be ignoring all of the emotions in the little box they stood in. No words were exchanged; no glances were had.

After reaching the ground, the four of them made their way out of the lobby, and they walked a few blocks away from the apartment. Takeru and Kiku led the girls into a small alleyway at the side of the road, and they let go of the girls’ hands.

“This should be far enough for now.” Takeru noted.  
“What…” was all Aoi managed to say before Kiku let her expression fall into a kind and caring smile, and Takeru put on a silly grin. They pulled the girls into a big group hug and giggled.  
“We hope you weren’t too lonely without us.” Kiku said, squeezing the girls tighter.


	8. A careless proposal

Shoichi received a call in the late evening from an unknown number as he watched TV on the couch. Muting the TV, Shoichi answered the call.  
“Who is this?” He asked, answering the phone.  
 _“The Knights of Hanoi.”_ A middle aged man answered from the other end of the line.  
“Aso?” Shoichi asked, guessing which Knight it may have been from the voice.

_“That’s me.”_  
“What do you want?” Shoichi asked, running his hand through his hair.  
 _“We’d like to request that you bring Jin to us.”_ Aso answered, _“We’re trying to figure out if Ai may have done something to Ryoken and Specter, but we need more data than that of two people if we’re going to get anywhere.”_

“Then why not just get Aoi or Miyu or someone?” Shoichi scoffed, “I need to keep an eye on Jin if I want him to be safe.”  
A fed up sigh crackled through the phone’s speaker, _“Nobody is asking you to leave him alone. You’re welcome to stay on the Hanoi boat if that will compel you to bring Jin.”_  
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why not Ai’s other victims?”

_”Too many data points. May cause outliers.”_ Genome called out in the background.  
“I see.” Shoichi sighed, “And where do you intend to keep Jin on the boat? Not anywhere near any duel disks, I hope.”  
 _”We’ve been careful to not let Ryoken or Specter near any duel disks. We have them locked in Ryoken’s room to ensure they don’t attempt to get their disks back. Jin can stay with them.”_ Aso replied.  
“Hang on, they want their disks back? Why is that?” Shoichi asked.  
There was a pause on the line before he received a response, _”Jin hasn’t been asking for his disk back?”_  
“No.”

Unbeknownst to Shoichi, Jin was in his room, ear against the door, listening in on their conversation. Jin felt a frown appear on his face as his brother answered the Hanoi’s question. Of course he wanted his disk back! He was just way too reserved to demand it back.

Although, that didn’t matter so much to him anymore. He’d found his duel disk hidden behind the mugs in the cupboard earlier that day and had snuck it into his room. He didn’t want to log in, though. He would feel selfish if he did. What if his friends didn’t have the chance to go back like he did? He wanted to find his friends first before he logged back into the network, and the perfect chance to do so had just presented itself.

Jin opened his door, making sure it made enough noise to capture Shoichi’s attention.  
“We should go to the boat.” He said quietly to his brother.  
“Jin? You were listening to us?” Shoichi raised an eyebrow.  
“I just happened to overhear your conversation, since your phone is on speakerphone and all…” Jin scratched his cheek nervously, “If I’m infected with a weird program or something, I’d want to know about it, and I guess I just feel like that would make it easier to remove too…?”

“You’re okay with this, Jin?” Shoichi asked.  
“Yes.”  
 _”You heard the boy. We’re at the docks right now. We hope to see you as soon as possible.”_ Aso hung up the phone, leaving silence in the room between Jin and Shoichi.

“Let’s go.” Jin said, walking towards the front door to their apartment.  
“R-right…” Shoichi followed him.

On the outside, Jin had a pretty neutral expression, but on the inside he was smirking. For you see, Jin had cleverly hidden his duel disk under a long sleeve shirt and hoodie, and his older brother was none the wiser.


	9. Masterfully tricked

“Wait, so you’re not with the Knights?” Aoi asked, trying to get a grip on the situation.  
“And you’re not working against Ai?” Miyu added.  
“Of course not. Would we ever let you guys down?” Kiku asked with a smile.  
“I suppose not.” Aoi let her expression turn into a calm smile too.

“What was that whole thing about Ai having influence over us or something?” Miyu inquired.  
“Just some random lie we cooked up to get him to hand you guys over to us.” Takeru shrugged, “He’s convinced that you’re infected with a program or something.”  
“Oh, I see.” Miyu let out a giggle of relief.

“I’m glad to see you guys are okay.” Kiku beamed at them.  
“We’re glad to see you again.” Aoi relaxed herself a little more, and so did Miyu. They knew they were safe.

“We probably shouldn’t be standing around.” Takeru pointed out, “I’m really glad to see you guys, but we need to get you guys out of here before your brother gets the chance to figure out we’ve tricked him.”  
“What’s the plan?” Aoi straightened up.  
“We’re going to go to the train station and get you two some new duel disks at the electronics store just outside of it, and then we’re going to take you to the countryside with us.” Takeru explained, “Nobody knows my address or Kiku’s except the others from Ai’s cottage. You’ll be safe with us.”  
“Sounds like a plan.”


	10. A step in the desired direction

Jin was promptly sent into Ryoken’s room to be kept away from duel disks upon arriving on the boat, while his brother helped the Hanoi out with their work. When he entered the room, he immediately noticed that Ryoken and Specter were in the same room, just as Aso had claimed over the phone. Ryoken was sitting on his bed, and Specter was curled up and asleep, with his head resting on Ryoken’s lap. Seeing that they weren’t completely lonely, Jin let out a sigh of relief.

Ryoken looked over at Jin with surprise when he saw that he had come into the room. Jin nervously approached the two, unsure how to interact outside of the cottage. Ryoken recognised Jin’s anxiety and let his surprise fade into an expression of softness, gesturing for Jin to come and sit beside him. Jin sat down a small distance from Ryoken’s side, to which the older boy sighed and pulled him close.

“We’ve missed you.” He said quietly, giving Jin’s shoulder a rub.  
“I’ve missed you guys too.” Jin responded, his voice equally as quiet. He leaned into Ryoken, and his heart warmed now that he was with some of his friends again.  
“Are you doing alright? I know how much being close to everyone meant to you.” Ryoken asked.  
“It…. it was hard, being in a situation where I thought I’d never see anyone again.” Jin admitted, “I hurt my brother again too. He’s worried sick about me…”

Ryoken poured all of his reassurance he could into his body language and his hug with Jin. He wasn’t used to trying to comfort someone or express concern, but connecting with everyone gave him the experience he felt he needed to at least attempt such things. Besides, if it was for someone who was close to him, he didn’t mind.

“I just want to escape all of this…” Jin stared up at the ceiling, a sad look in his eyes, “I want to go back to the cottage, where I don’t have to be afraid of hurting my brother. I want to be connected to everyone, and comforted by everyone…”  
“Unfortunately we can’t do that in the position we’re in now.” Ryoken pointed out, “But a chance might come around.”

“Actually…” Jin pulled his sleeve back, revealing his duel disk, “I managed to sneak this in here.”  
“A duel disk?” Ryoken’s eyes widened, “Why didn’t you use it before coming here?”  
“I wanted to see you guys first, and see if you were doing okay.” Jin unclipped the disk from his wrist, “It’d be selfish to leave you behind.”  
That left Ryoken speechless. He knew Jin had a kind, caring heart, but witnessing the results of those traits in person was something else. Unable to adequately respond with words, Ryoken just tightened his embrace of Jin.

At that moment, Specter began to wake up.  
“Ryoken-sama, what’s-” He began, but then he stopped when he saw Jin sitting on the bed with them, “Jin? Is that really you?”  
“It’s good to see you again.” Jin smiled at him.  
Specter sat up silently and wrapped his arms around Jin, enjoying his company to the fullest.

“Why are you here, by the way?” Ryoken asked.  
“The Hanoi think bringing another person from the cottage to here would help them figure out what Ai did to us. I agreed to come along so I could see you both.” Jin explained as Specter let go of him and sat up straight.  
“We keep telling them that Ai hasn’t infected us with a program.” Ryoken shook his head, “They won’t listen. They think Ai is making us lie.”

“It’s frustrating. We’re telling the truth and they refuse to hear us.” Specter added, “We’re going to be here forever if they don’t stop trying to find a problem that doesn’t even exist.”  
“Well, we might be able to change that.” Jin held up his disk and Specter’s eyes widened.  
“You have your disk? Have you logged back in?”  
“No.” Jin replied.

“Perhaps you are right, Jin. That duel disk might get us out of this situation.” Ryoken put his hand to his chin in thought, “If you visit Ai, he might have a way of helping us.”  
“If one of us is going to log in, I don’t think it should be me.” Jin said, “I’m not very good with technology, so if Ai offers a technical solution I wouldn’t be able to effectively communicate the plan or execute it…” Jin trailed off.

“I know you have a few issues articulating things.” Ryoken nodded. A memory surfaced in his mind of one of Jin’s insecurities he felt while they were connected. 10 years of basically being mute rendered Jin somewhat troubled when communicating with others, and he felt like less of a person for it.  
“Ryoken-sama, you should log in.” Specter suggested, “Jin and I will make sure the Knights don’t see anything if they come to visit while you’re logged in.”  
“Are you sure?” He asked.

Specter nodded, and Jin held out the disk to Ryoken. He took it, clipped it onto his wrist and took a deep breath before whispering “Into the Vrains.”


	11. Back in the cottage

Ai didn’t know who to expect to log in today. Would only Kiku and Takeru return today? Would they have brought one or more of the others back with them? Or would they have been taken away by the intruders who so rudely visited the other day?

Only time would tell, and Ai hated that. He would be lying if he said he was not nervous. As each minute passed, his chest got tighter. He knew he should stay positive, but he found it quite hard knowing that never seeing them again was always a possibility.

Counting the minutes that went by and making predictions on when they may return, Ai sat upon the scattered blankets on the floor of his cottage and held Yusaku close. The poor boy was still shellshocked from losing all of the people who were close to him to Genome’s program. Takeru and Kiku had done a good job at stabilizing Yusaku last night, but it wasn’t enough to fully heal him.

“Ai.” A voice spoke from behind him, catching him off guard. He snapped around to see who was there and Yusaku slowly lifted his head to take a look at who was talking.  
Four people stood at the entrance to the room; Aoi, Miyu, Takeru and Kiku.  
“You’re back!” Ai exclaimed in delight, “And your brought Miyu and Aoi back to us!”

Aoi and Miyu ran over to Ai and Yusaku, and wrapped their arms around them.  
“We’re home.” Aoi said, feeling the warmth of her friends washing over her.  
“Welcome back.” Ai smiled gently, patting Aoi and Miyu’s heads.

“Getting them wasn’t as hard as we feared it would be, right, Kiku?” Takeru said, sitting down in front of Ai.  
“Thankfully enough, yes.” Kiku sat down beside Takeru, picked up a plush toy rabbit and gave it a squeeze.  
“I fear it won’t be so easy with Jin, Ryoken and Specter.” Ai frowned, “Shoichi is very protective, and the Knights of Hanoi are quite strict.”

“At least we have a way of contacting you.” A deep male voice spoke.  
“Ryoken?!” Everyone in the room practically all exclaimed at once, looking over at the figure who just appeared in the room.  
“I don’t have much time, because the Knights will be checking in on me in an hour. If they see that I have Jin’s duel disk, they’ll confiscate it the moment I log out.”

Ai nodded in understanding, seeing the need to be straight to the point, “What’s your situation?”  
“I’m locked in my room on the boat with Jin and Specter. Jin managed to smuggle his duel disk into my room, so this is the only device we have that can connect to the network. The Knights are in the control room with Shoichi and they come and check on us every hour.” Ryoken explained, “They’re trying to figure out if you’ve infected us with a program.” He scoffed.

“I see..” Ai trailed off, “I have a plan. I’m going to explain it to you, then you’re going to log out, tell others what I’ve said and log back in, okay? We’re going to bring everyone back here.”  
“Understood.”


	12. The grossly unexpected

Kyoko’s alarm on her phone went off. Just as she had done in previous hours, she got up and made her way to Ryoken’s room to check on the boys. However this time, she picked up a bottle of water from the mini fridge for Jin.

She opened the door and stepped into the room. What she saw made her drop the bottle of water in panic. Jin and Specter were sitting on the bed with Ryoken between them. His eyes were shut so he appeared as if he were asleep, but Jin was holding up his arm to make the device on his wrist obvious to Kyoko in order to show her what was going on.

It didn’t even take her a fraction of a second to figure out where Ryoken was right now. He was with Ai.

“Where did you get that duel disk?!” She demanded to know.  
“Jin brought it without his brother’s knowledge.” Specter answered. Jin put Ryoken’s arm down.  
“This is bad…” Kyoko said under her breath. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Removing a person’s duel disk while they’re logged in was a dangerous thing to do, so she couldn’t confiscate it.

“Ai has some demands.” Jin said, “Take us to the control room and he’ll explain.”  
“I’ll… I’ll talk to the Knights first.” Kyoko stammered.  
“That’s fine. Just don’t take too long. You might not see Ryoken again.” Specter folded his arms.

Kyoko left the room on the verge of hyperventilating, and locked the door behind her. When she got back to the Knights, they were concerned.  
“Are you alright, Kyoko?” Aso asked, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  
“It’s Ryoken.” She said fast, panicking, “He’s logged into the network.”  
“How!?” Genome stood up and slammed his hands down on his desk.  
“Jin smuggled in his duel disk.”

All of the Knights glared at Shoichi.  
“He found his disk!? I would have seen it if it were on his wrist!” Shoichi yelled in disbelief.  
“Specter and Jin said I had to bring them here and then we’d hear Ai’s demands if we were ever to see Ryoken again.” Kyoko explained, her hands balling into fists.

“Do it.” Aso said, “Maybe we’ll be given a way out of this mess.”  
“Are you sure though?” Kyoko was on the verge of tears, “Ai’s demands could be-”  
“We don’t have a choice!” Aso growled through gritted teeth.  
“Unfortunately, Aso is correct.” Genome said with equal enthusiasm.

“I’ll… bring them here then. Are Ryoken’s and Specter’s disks still hidden?” Kyoko asked.  
“Yes. We have some peer to peer cables near them for quick access in case of an emergency.” Genome sat down.  
“Right. Wait here, please.” Kyoko left the room.


	13. Unreasonable demands

Kyoko took Jin and Specter out of Ryoken’s room and took them to the control room as she had been instructed. Upon arriving, the Knights did not greet them with any friendly looks.

“Jin, why did you bring your duel disk?!” Shoichi asked, voice strained, “You knew Ai was trying to get to you, and yet you still put yourself in harm’s way?”  
“It’s not like that…” Jin averted his gaze in shame, “Ai is nice… He gave me friends and happiness… I wish you’d understand…”  
“Ai… really has done something to you.” Shoichi’s eyes widened, “I was too late…” Tears were brimming at the sides of his eyes.

“P-please don’t cry!” Jin stammered, “He hasn’t done anything…!”  
Specter pulled Jin in close and hushed him, patting his head to calm him down.  
“You won’t have to worry about hurting anyone else much longer…” He whispered.  
The Knights looked on in disbelief as _Specter_ , of all people, provided another person physical comfort. He was more of the type to laugh at another’s pain, not try and ease it. Even then, why Jin of all people? Jin and Specter shouldn’t know each other well at all.

“Yo yo yo!” A jolly voice piped up from all the speakers in the room. All of the visuals on the monitors turned to static and quickly faded to reveal a live video feed of Ai in his cottage, surrounded by Aoi, Miyu, Yusaku, Takeru, Kiku and Ryoken. They were either leaning up against Ai or cuddled into the side of somebody else. They were all clearly awake and at ease, a face that disturbed the Knights and Shoichi.

“Ai!” Genome hissed.  
“As you all know, I have some demands!” Ai clapped his hands together a single time, “Well, I think a better way to describe what I have for you is an ethical dilemma. But that’s not the point!

“Here’s the ultimatum I present to you fine individuals: You either give both Specter and Jin duels disks and let them log in and see me, or I’ll enslave every person currently logged into Vrains and turn them into processing power, just as Bohman did!”  
A shocked silence filled the room. The only people who remained calm were Specter and Jin.

“It’s up to you how selfish you are. You either exchange the few for the many, or the many for the few.” Ai added. He let out a small laugh, and gave Ryoken’s head a small pat, a move which successfully sparked discomfort in the Knights.

“We need to grab those peer to peer cables and use Ryoken to get to Ai.” Kyoko said in a panic, moving towards a cabinet that housed cabled and other devices.  
“Don’t even think about it.” Ai wagged his finger, stopping Kyoko in her tracks, “I’ve patched the ability to access my cottage via a cable. Now only the people I invite can enter.”  
“Shit…!” Kyoko bit her lip.

“Oh, and Takeru has informed me that Akira Zaizen has been trying to find my cottage for some time now. Unfortunately enough for him, I’ve made it so that the location of my cottage relative to the network is constantly changing. The moment he tracks my down, I would have moved again. He’ll never be able to do anything about me.” Ai explained.  
“You monster…!” Aso spat.

“One last thing. Once you make your choice, you can’t take it back.” Ai put his hands together, “If you chose to forsake the network’s users, they’ll be mine forever. If you choose to hand Jin and Specter over, I’m not letting them log out again.”  
“Do you not care what they feel about this!?” Shoichi yelled.

“This is the ideal situation.” Specter chimed in.  
“What?!”  
“If we have the same arrangement as last time, where we log out during the day and log in at night, you’ll just take our disks from us. We can’t have that happen.” He explained.  
“But I won’t be able to see Jin again!” Shoichi was on the verge of having a complete breakdown.

“And I won’t be able to hurt you again.” Jin said quietly, “It’s ideal.”  
“But you leaving will hurt me! I love you Jin, you’re my family!”  
“It’s one last bit of hurt to spare you a lifetime of me hurting you over and over again.” Jin explained, “It’s the only way.”  
“But that’s not the case…!” Shoichi exclaimed. Jin remained quiet, and shook his head.

“I… I think we need to hand Specter and Jin over, Shoichi…” Genome concluded.  
“What?!”  
“The fate of millions of people rests on our shoulders.” Genome had a pained expression, “The Tower of Hanoi was meant to sacrifice a couple thousand people for the sake of the rest of humanity. The Knights of Hanoi has always believed in sacrificing the few for the many."

“You can’t be serious…” Shoichi was in complete disbelief.  
“It doesn’t matter how close we are to these people, the correct thing to do is sacrifice them.” Genome explained, grabbing two duel disks from his desk drawer.  
“No… no! Don’t give Jin a duel disk!” Shoichi yelled.  
“I have a duty to humanity, Shoichi. We all do.” Genome’s expression was grim. He handed Specter a duel disk, and he gave one to Jin.

“You’ve made a wise choice.” Ai smiled, “I’ll be sure to take very good care of them.”


	14. The final reunion

“I’m glad to see you guys again” Ai beamed at Specter and Jin, “Now you’ll never have to be separated from those who care about you ever again. You can bond with each other forever…”  
Specter and Jin took their place among the group of people surrounding Ai, making themselves comfortable. Their friends welcomed them with an embrace.

“Are you all ready to sleep?” Ai asked, a gentle smile on his face.  
Murmurs of the words ‘yes’ and ‘yeah’ sounded from around him, and he gave an nod in reply to signify that he understood.  
“Goodnight.” One by one, he put them to sleep.

He started with Yusaku, the boy with his head on Ai’s lap. He then moved onto Ryoken, who was close by his side, and Takeru, whose back was up against Ryoken’s. Ai then put Aoi and Miyu to sleep, and Kiku who was cuddled up with them. Ai then let Jin, who was between the girls and Yusaku, join them in their slumber. Finally he moved onto Specter, letting him sleep as he held onto Ryoken’s hand.

Ai felt a calming satisfaction wash over him as he watched them sleep. They were all physically close (in the network, at least, as the real world didn’t matter so much anymore), and their hearts were even closer. Yusaku’s heart felt as if it were healing even faster to Ai, which brought him such wondrous joy that he began to cry.

In the minds of those who slept, they were finally safe and in a place where they were understood, taken care of and loved. There were traces of love in the real world, and traces of people who understood them, but none of it compared to how it was here. It was simply unparalleled.

For the last time, they reached out to one another. They provided warmth and comfort for one another, and the rest of eternity they intended to stay this way.


	15. The fallout

“OPEN UP!!!! OPEN UP!!!!” Akira was madly banging on the door to the Hanoi boat, and even kicking it, yelling very loudly. He wanted to know what the Hanoi had done to his little sister and her best friend.  
Nobody answered, though. Everybody inside was too distraught to do anything.

Shoichi was heartbroken. His little brother that he’d done everything for had decided that running away and leaving reality behind was the only way to live his life. Shoichi was now alone. He had no goal in life anymore; his goal used to be to give Jin the life he deserved. Shoichi had nothing left. Everything was meaningless without Jin.

Kyoko had broken down into tears. The boy she treated like a little brother, and loved like a little brother, was gone. She’d never see him again. The other boy who stuck so closely by Ryoken’s side, showing nothing but undying loyalty, was gone too. Maybe they hadn’t been so close, but he had become part of the Hanoi’s family, and she was always grateful to Specter for taking care of Ryoken.

Aso’s mind just wouldn’t function quite right. Ryoken was like a little brother to him too, after all. Nobody just loses somebody that easily. He didn’t know whether he should say or do something right now, looking upon the two motionless figures that lay on the floor. What he did know, however, was that he had lost his purpose, just like Shoichi. He’s dedicated his life to the Hanoi cause, but there was no Hanoi without Ryoken. There was nowhere to go from here.

Genome was not nearly as affected as his colleagues, but to say he didn’t feel anything right now would be a complete lie. He was always good at fighting back his emotions, however, so he managed to beat back his sadness and approach Specter and Jin. There was something he needed to check. He pressed his hand to each of their necks and felt a pulse, and he saw that they were breathing lightly. He checked their eyes, and then their duel disks before he realised something.

“Their disks… say that they’re not logged in. The disks are on standby.” He said, voice choked, “But they’re definitely unconscious…”  
Aso snapped to attention, “You… you don’t mean that…”  
“Their minds are no longer in their bodies, they’re in the network. Their bodies are empty shells.”


	16. Dark roses and diamonds of light

An empty shell can’t support itself. It’s doomed to stay motionless until somebody pulls the plug on its life support, and then it will rot away.

A criminal can’t hope to organise a funeral the traditional way without being caught by authorities and trialled for murder.

It is due to both of these facts that Aso, Genome and Kyoko have gathered in a remote place a small distance outside of Den City in the dead of night around a hole they have dug themselves. Beside the grave is the bodies of two people they held near and dear; Ryoken and Specter.

Dressed in a black dress and wearing a black hat adorned with dark roses, Kyoko weeps into a handkerchief as Aso and Genome push Ryoken and Specter’s bodies into the hole. Both of them are wearing suits despite how impractical they are for digging holes and filling them back in. They wished to respect the dead despite the haphazard and irregular funeral, so they decided to wear suits anyway.

As Aso and Genome shovelled cool earth and soil back into the grave, Kyoko wept, remembering all of the time she spent with the two who lay in the grave.

As she cried, a hand laid itself on her shoulder as if to reassure her that things would get better. Wiping away tears with her handkerchief, she looked up to see that Genome and Aso were both still working hard to fill in the grave.

Then who did the hand belong to?

She slowly turned her head to look at the hand. In the dim moonlight, she could see that the hand had a red, triangular tattoo on it. This made her heart stop. Surely her grief was making her see things?!

She turned her head up to see who the hand belonged to. A man stood before her with a soft smile on his face. He was dressed in a suit, as if he were here to attend the funeral. He had white hair with streaks of blue trailing down the sides, and cool blue eyes that felt icy to look into.

She was so sure she was just seeing that all-too-familiar face due to her own grief. It couldn’t be anything else. She wiped her tears once more, hoping it would clear this illusion from her vision, but it didn’t cease to exist.

Then she saw the dim, diamond shaped blue light on the front of his neck.

And she paused, letting tears roll down her cheeks.

She fell into his arms and wept into his chest wildly, not holding back any of her cries or emotion at all.

And the person embraced her strongly, and told her that everything would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for joining me on this ride once again. It was a lot of fun to write this story, just as much as the story that came before it.


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